Severe Weather

Injured soldier returns to Maine

A soldier from Livermore Falls returned to Maine several months after she was seriously injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Helaina Lake was severely wounded in June when the Taliban attacked her base in eastern Afghanistan.

Lake has been recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.

"She's coming home." Lake's sister Kathrynn Lake said. "It's not the same when you fly down to a hospital to go see her."

Helaina Lake flew into the Portland Jetport Tuesday morning.

"It's so amazing. The community and my family and friends have just been such a huge support through all of this and I can't thank them enough. It's been really helpful," Lake said when she arrived.

A limo carried Lake and her family from the Jetport to her hometown, Livermore Falls. A convoy of police and fire departments led the way.

People lined up to meet Lake at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Jay. "It's really great to see the support that she's got," said family friend Rodney Therrien.

"I don't feel like I deserve it," Lake said about all the attention her homecoming received. "There's so many people that deserve it more than me, and the lives that were lost the day that I got injured... I think they're the heroes. I think they deserve it more."

"I think it's important for the community to touch her and see her and know that she's OK because they've prayed for her and supported her all along," Lake's mother, Jeannine Lake, said of her daughter's homecoming.

Lake will stay in Maine until January and will then return to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment.

Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."